Method of preparing soles.



K. ENGEL. METHOD OF PREPARING SOLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, IEH4.

Patented Oct. 15 1918..

Ava/70R 4M6, ivy/WW7 KARL :ansEL, or ARLINGTON, MASSA HUSETTS, nssrenon, BY mnsnr. ASSIGNMENTS, 'ro UNITED snon MACHINERY GORPORATION, or PATEBSGN, NEW JERSEY, A son rone'rron or new JERSEY.

arn'rnon or PREPARING some.

Patented (lot. 115, ilzlild.

1,281,533. Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 26, 15214. Seria1No.863,758.

T (LZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, KARL ENGEL, a citizen a specification, like referencecharacters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and consists in certain improvements in methods of preparing soles. method is particularly applicable to the to tend to resume its molded shape after distortion during Wear. This result 1 taiuin the illustrat This rial to the shank portion of the sole. In

the present instance the use of celluloid is illustrated. If celluloid is used it may advantageousy be in the form of a thin sheet which is softened, as by alcohol or some other solvent for celluloid, and applied to the mid portion of the shank of the sole or sole blank, preferably throughout the length of the shank, prior to the sole molding operation. The sole, being properly tempered, is then molded together With the sheet of softened celluloid which latter is caused by the molding pressure to adhere to and more or less permeate the sole and become united throughout its entire contacting face with preparation of soles for use in the manufacthe, sole in such a manner as to be insepature of single sole shoes, although itmay rablc therefrom during the use of the sole. also be employed to advantage in connee- The celluloid, including that which has pertion with outersoles or innersolcs in making meated the shank of the sole, assumes dur- Wclt or other double soled shoes. For the ing the molding operation the shape which purpose of illustration the invention will is given to the solo by that operation so be described With particular reference to as to maintain the shank resiliently in the its application to the manufacture of single desired shape. This invention, Whether sole shoes. practised on the single sole of a turn or In the manufacture of shoes in which the stitchdown shoe or on the outersole or the upper is directly secured to a single sole, innersole of a double sgled shoe, responds such as turn shoes and many stitch-down tothesegirirenie'hthf practical useas to shoes and especially childrens spring heel reflective stiffening of"tl-ie.,s hoe shank and shoes. the use of the ordinary shank stiifener maintaining its molded conforihatiomas to l as a separate article is prohibited because durability and to resilience and, What is of.

of the peculiar requirements which are esprime importance in single sole Work, these sential to this type of shoe. The usual results may be secured in the Way hereinpractice is, therefore, to conform the'sole, after particularly described Without,- adding while in temper, to the contour of the botappreciably to the thickness of the sole or tom of thelast and particularly to the arched producing any objectionable protuberance shank portion of the last, the conformed thereon and Without the use of fastening deshank portion of the sole tending to support vices such as tacks or rivets. l have found, the arch of the foot. It has been found, in fact, that the sole may advantageously however, that the sole loses considerable of be reduced in thickness in the shank when the conformation imparted to it as the sole this invention is employed, and thereby not L becon'les dry and, also, when the shoe is only the appearance of the shoe be improved 5 subjected to Wear the molded shank portion as to flexibility but the resilience of the sole of the sole frequently breaks down, therebe actually increased. by destroying the fit of the shoe and de- When solesare molded prior to applicatracting considerably from its appearance. tlon tothe shoe they must be vvorked n I have discovered that a sole can be satistemper, the operation being earned on in fac'torily stiffened in the shank so as to the stock-fitting room, and a quantity of maintain the shape imparted to it in the soles are usually prepared at one th gh, many molding operation, and also can be given a of which are allowed to dry het'ore they are high degree of resilience which will cause it incorporated in the shoes. in dry ng they twist and in such handling and molded. soles are liable to become distorted, particularly in the shank portion. This invention is therefore of particular importance as an improvement in preparing soles that are molded, before being laid although. it is as well adapted for use in preparing unmolded soles, and the. allixing' or the final fitting ot' the stiffener to the sole it the sole is molded may advantageously be effected simultaneously with the molding operation. In one of its aspects the invention consists in preparing a sole blank before incorporation of the sole. in av shoe by stiffening the shank portion of the sole blank relatively to the forepart with a shank stiffening element and then molding the shank portion of the sole blank to which the stifieuing element is applied into the shape in which it is to be maintaned by the shank stillening element, all prior to assembling the sole with. the shoe. In another of its aspects the invention consists in assembling a sole blank and a moldable shank stiffener and then simultaneously molding the SOlG z'aEid the stitl'ener together to the desired shape. prior to application of the prepared sole to a shoe.

The novel sole produced by the process hereinafted described is not herein claimed butv is claimed in my copen ling application Serial No. 60,335, filed Nov. 8, 1915, the said co-pending application being a division of this application.

The invention will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings which illustrate one method by which it. may be practised and also show a sole such results from a practice of this method In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a sole'upon which the first step of the pre ferred order of steps for carrying out the invention has been pertormed.

Fig". 2 is a perspective view at the sole showing the shank stiffener in applied position preparatory to the molding operation.

Fig. 3 is a. perspective FlQW of the sole after it has been molded and the stiffener or stiffener material affixed to it by being caused more or less to permeate and closely to adhere to the shank portion of the sole.

I have employed this improved,method in the. manufacture of stitclrdtm'n shoes and willv describe it as so used. although without any intention that the invention shall be construed as limited to any particular class of sales or shoes.

In carrying out my invention in a preferred manner the sole blank 2 is first preferably reduced in thickness in the shank portion 3 of the sole by cutting it away from the flesh side as shown in Fig". 1. in order to make possible a thin appearing and flexi: ble shank for the. shoe. This split or skiving is removed from the flesh side of the solefrom approximately the heel breast line to the hall line of the sole and across the entire width of the sole and is of substantially uni- -form thickness throughout so as to leave the reduced shank portion of the sole of sub stantially uniform thickness throughout and of less thickness than the adjacent portions of the sole as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The. sole is then tempered, in which condition it is ordinarily placed between (lies and conformed. to the contour ol the bottom of the last or foot. in accordance with this invention the relatively thin shank portion 3 of the sole is treated with a bonding and stiffening material which permeates more or less of the said portion of the sole and is of such a nature that when the sole is cmnpleted it will cause the sole to retain the form imparted to the sole in the molding operation and will also possess such a decree of resilience as is de sirable. particularly when used in the manu facture of childrens shoes. I have found that celluloid or similar pyroxylin compounds, when employed in the manner set forth by me, possesses the necessary propen ties for this purpose. In Fig. is shown a relatively thin strip of celluloid, which preferably of the proper dimenshms to cover all but the marginal edge portion of the shank ol the sole. This is applied to the flesh side of the sole. the marginal edges being left unaffected by the celluloid so as not to interfere with the channeling of the sole or with the stitching of the sole. to the upper. ,This strip 5 of: celluloid is preterably treated, it may be on its lower surface only, with a suitable solvent which will partially dissolve and will soften the celluloid and rend r it sulliciently plastic or semiplastic to be conformed to the form given the sole and also to penetrate into the leather and become firmly bonded to the. fibers of the sole. While the c..-.lluloid, as well as the sole. is in the proper temper tlr" work placed between suitable dies r other ise molded to the proper contra-ma in Fig. 3, during: which melding of the sole the surface of the shank portion at the sole becomes more or less impregnated with the celluloid and the celluloid becomes conformed to the curvatures of the snank portion of the solo in which state the celluloid becomes set.

The sole thus formed is secured to the upper in any of the ordinary ways by usual fastening means in the further stepsof man u'tacturing the shoe.

The use of celluloid or material having like properties as above described causes the shank portion of sole to permanently retain the center nai. u ii'nparted to it. and thus provide a proper support tor the arch of the toot. eresiliency produced by celluloid in tlr haul; of tae shoe is particnon as slim-tn '7 ins ularly desirable in childrens shoes. Moreover, the celluloid being" firmly bonded to the leather fiber and absolutely impervious to moisture, either from the foot or from other sources, prevents the shank of the shoe from breaking down when the shoe is subjected to severe use. An important advantage to be noted is that the shank stiffening method p 'actised by me leaves the'inner surface of the sole substantially smooth, thereby being particularly adapted for use in the manufacture of shoes which do not have a slip sole or innersole, which condition has heretofore precluded the use of shank stiffening in this class of footwear.

Haring described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in applying a stiffening material to the shank portion of a sole, rendering said material temporarily plastic, molding the shank portion of the sole to gether with said plastic stiffening material to the desired shape and simultaneously impregnating the sole with said material and then allowing the stiffening material to harden while the sole is in its molded shape.

2. That improvement in methods of stiffening the shank portion of a sole which con sists in applying a stiifening material to the inner side of the shank portion of the sole, rendering said material temporarily plastic, molding the shank portion of the sole and the stifiening material together and then.

allowing the stiffening material to harden.

3. That improvement in methods of stiffening the shank portion of a sole which consists in impregnating the shank portion of a sole with a material which may be caused to harden, molding said portion of the sole, and then causing the stiiiening material to harden while the sole is in molded condition.

4. That improvement in methods of stiffening the shank portion of a sole which con-- sists in applying a stiii'ening material to the mid-portion only of the inner surface of the shank portion of a sole, rendering said mate rial plastic, molding the shank portion of the sole aridthe stiffening material together. and then allowing the stiffening material to harden.

5. That improvement in methods of stiltening the shank portion of a sole which consists in applying a sheet of: celluloid to the shank portion of a sole, rendering said celluloid plastic, molding the shank portion of the sole and the celluloid together and cansing the celluloid to permeate the shank portion of the sole and then allowing" the celluloid to harden and become bonded to the fibers of the material in plastic condition and then allow ing said material to harden while. the shank portion of the sole is conformed. to the kid gitudinal and transverse conformation of the shank portion of the last upon zvh'ch the shoe is to be made. i i l v 7. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in stiffening the interior shank portion of a shoe solo by impregnating such portion only of the sole with stifi'ening material in plastic condition ai1d tlien allowing said material to harden with the entire shank portion of the sole conforming to the longitudinal and transverse curvatures of the shank portion of the last on which the pearance of the shank portion of the shoe by removing from the flesh side ofthe shank portion of the sole a skiving which is of uniform thickness from approximately the heel breast line to the ball line and for a distance inwardly from each edge in excessfof the material removed in the edge trimming op-' eration whereby the thickness of the sole edge is substantially uniform throughout the shank and of substantially less thickness than the adjacent portions of the sole edge when the shoe is completed,

10. The herein described process which consists of assembling a sole and a n'ioldable shank stiffener and then simultaneously molding the sole and shank stiffener to the desired shape prior to their being assembled in the shoe 11. That in'iprovement in a sole blank and a shank stiffening element of normally resilientmaterial, and then simultaneously molding said blank and shank stiffening element together to the re quired shape, prior to their being assembled in a shoe.

9. T hat improvement in the art of making shoes which consists in improving the ap- .e

methods I of preparing soles which consists in assembling 12. That improvement in methods of preparing soles which consists in cutting away a portion of a sole at the shank, applying a shank stiffening element to the reduced portion of the sole, and then molding the shank to the required shape, all prior to assemhling the sole with the shoe.

methods f pre- 1n app-hung moldable stiffening material to the shank portion of a sole, molding the shank portion of the sole, together with the said stiflening material, to the required shape, and allowing the conformation imparted to the prepared sole to become permanent prior to assembling the sole with a shoe.

14. That improvement in methods of preparing soles which consists in applying a stilfening element to the shank portion of a sole and molding the shank portion of the sole to a predetermined conformation and simultaneously attaching the stiffening element to the sole.

15. That improvement in methods of preparing soles which consists in applying a ifi'ening element to the shank portion of a sole, and molding the shank portion of the sole, together with said stiffening element, to the required shape, prior to their being assembled in a shoe.

16. That improvement in methods of preparing soles which consists in applying a stiifening element of moldable material to the shank portion of a sole, and molding the shank portion of the sole, together with said stiffening element to the required shape, prior to their being assembled in a shoe.

17. That improvement in methods of preparing soles which consists in forcing together a moldable sole and a shank stiitener and molding the soles to the longitudinal and transverse curvatures required to fit the shank portion of a shoe, and removing the molding force while the stiffener acts to maintain the molded shape of the sole, all prior to assembling the sole with a shoe.

18. That improvement in methods of preparing soles which consists in forcing to gether a moldable sole and a shank stilfener and simultaneously molding the sole and a1- fixing the stitl ener permanently in such relation to the sole that it will assist in maintaining the molded shape of the shank portion of the sole.

19. That imyn'ovement in methods of pre paring soles which consists in recessing a sole blank in the shank portion substantially from heel breast line to ball line, applying to the recessed portion of the sole a shank stiflei'ier so related in thickness to the recess as to present no objectionable projection-above the unrecessed portions of the sole and molding the'sole with the stifiener in the recess to conform to the curvatures of the shank portion of the shoe for which the shoe is being prepared.

20. That improvement in methods of preparing soles for incorporation in shoes which consists in cutting a piece of solestock to the approximate size and shape of the shank and forepart of the sole, applying a shank stiffening element and then molding the shank portion of the sole into the sha e in which the previously applied shank sti ening element, is to maintain the sole.

21. That improvement in methods of preparing soles for incorporation in shoes which consists in stiffening the shank portion of a sole blank relatively to the forepart of the blank by attaching a shank stiffening element to. the inner or flesh side of the sole blank and then shaping the said stilfening element into conformation with the part of the sole blank to which it is applied, all prior to the assembling of the sole in a shoe.

In testimony whereof I h/ave signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

KARL ENGEL.

Witnesses Hmmr KAHLMEYER, EMrLn H. Tannivnn. 

